Tag Archives: God

Pride- Quick Quip- 3/26/24

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Hello. I actually was hospitalized recently. Had not had that happen again in a long while!

Pride I feel is the deadliest of all sins. Might even be more than the fellow ones with this considered those deeply evil sins. It affects politics, public events, movies, television, newspapers, daily life especially ones who feel that they “know it all.”

It affects people who say they are atheist. Ask a non-believer “When did you stop believing in God?” and there is a chance they might tell you. And a lot of times that thought is “If God is so loving He wouldn’t–” fill in the blank. They still believe but they want to turn from Him.

An atheist a lot of times is like a father and child. The child being the subject here.

As this person they might be mad at something they know is wrong and told so and turn away from their dad. They might even be upset that what they need to do is different from what they want to do! And in all of this, they could become prideful and want to hurt the father who has nothing but love for them and say, “I have no father.”

Pride does more than just make a person think they have no father. It forsakes the heart, makes self-intelligence more important than truth from the word the Bible. It makes people believers who should iron and iron each other shaping each other for the truth and the one person in the supposed discussion says “Well this is true to me. That’s all I have to say.” Then the talking is over. The End.

I believe it can make a person go to a church, think they are a real believer, then be so sure that they would die for the truth. Then they pass away and they end up in the trial of the White Throne judgment.

Because “all they did” was claim that their truth that they were demanding was the real truth!

Sad quip but true.

Devotions (Kinda) Acts 4: 1-13-2/11/24

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Hello. I’m back! Hopefully I won’t go away again. This is like an unusual home now, haha!

Before I get back into this new feature I am sorry and have to admit something.

This technically isn’t a “devotion” per se, but I wanted to share what I want to say about this. This is sort of based on a bible study I just went to at an earlier time. As a group we went over things our own way at the time but there was some stuff here that really interested me.

Keep reading and I hope you will understand. What I do want to share doesn’t have a lot to do with what was talked about but is on the scripture itself. Because sometimes when reading the bible the word just comes alive and is exciting!

Things hit me deep and that is what I want to now share. The most exciting thing about reading Acts is know the Who, What, When, and Where?

To know where it happened you would have to know the who was impacted and when which was after a time of Christ’s life.

In this case these situations were after His death and resurrection!

Preceding that Jesus said to the people, the vast groups who listened before He died, He said He would give people a special gift. It would be something that would help them, a helper (the holy spirit) and it would be with them. It was technically Jesus’ promise to be with His people forever.

The disciples sadly and also preceding the book of the bible I am talking about did not understand much of this then and were not knowing what He had promised them before (they basically assumed, “You said you would be walking with us for the rest of our lives. Why are you doing this???”).

Then Jesus gave His life for the sin of the world died for the world’s sin. Then He was resurrected and is living actively for His people, like today!

The exciting thing about Acts is that the holy spirit would be coming to be a “helper” to them?

Wait. The “holy spirit?” What on earth is that??

Well that very force of God’s glory is told right here in this very book of the bible! You would if you get into it read of how it impacted them, both the jews and the gentiles, for the very first time. You also will be surprised that though preceding this event the were facing such heavy persecution and were seen as going against what the scriptures were saying. But they were actually living out what the God of love wanted especially the ones closest to Jesus.

I hope you get to read it during your time of devotion and chance on what fun it is. It is encouraging, at that time it was “unprecedented” (I sort of hate that word though, haha!!) and it was a special time too. That is because they faced challenges that they did not know were things they had to face. And everyone was on a new journey, even the living disciples of Christ (after Judas’ death). They faced a “new” path that was torn by new problems and trials because it was no longer the Pharisees that were after them but now a group called the “Sadducees.”

What I want to get into is are you a religious nut? Or do you consider yourself more than religious? Maybe you see yourself as a person who knows the truth and everyone else is wrong!

Well maybe reading this book of the bible will help you on your own time and during this moment of your life.

The first verse to the fourth verse talks about the arrest of Peter and John. Major religious leaders got together and as a group swooped in and captured them, since they talked of things that they apparently thought were false. It was heresy in their eyes!

What they didn’t realize was that they were witnesses to one of the most amazing events in all of human history. One that no one else can do but Christ!

But the Sadducees and the others thought they were spreading lies. They claimed they saw Jesus after He died. How???

It was word of mouth that spread to many others. How dare they speak what others would claim of their own offense some sort of false doctrine?

Seems like the Sadducees in a nutshell (I guess lol!).

But they were taken in to custody during the evening and kept in some sort of jail overnight.

Then they made them speak to a group of judges as if they were on trial to many others. Their claims were now getting them either killed or I don’t know what but these groups took their word as the most serious stuff to ever come from their mouths.

They were called the Sanhedrin.

As this went on Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said:

“(He was filled with the holy spirit) Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

part of Acts 4:8-12 NKJV (parentheses replaced text, added)

Hmm.

What a witness. But there’s more.

I am not even getting to the biggee part. This is the climax of my little devotion text I want you to read. What was so amazing was that they were put on trial.

Ever been on trial yourself? I haven’t but I have seen it at least once and I do not want to be on the worst part of that situation.

Here they were taken that what they said was untrue to the leaders, the priests, the head captain, and the Sadducees because they were speaking things they thought were awful.

But the final verse was what hit me.

They realized that the people who were so gungho so seemingly passionate, so sure about what they “saw.” It must have been true!

Because God’s people here, Peter and John, were known to be not smart.

They were known as uneducated people yet they were so sure they saw Christ.

And they believed. That is how verse 13 ends.

Wow.

Sorry I want to ponder that some more. How amazing it is to be a witness for Jesus!

But how about you? What do you believe? Seriously?

Do you see yourself as a witness? How about just a Christian? I know sometimes being seen as one thing or another might seem like one needs extra bravery or maybe you think this kind of thing is intimidating, do not fear. Do not forget that no matter what God is with you. That “helper” the holy spirit is with you.

God loves you. Take care.

Devotion II Thessalonians- 8/6/21

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To think of God’s faithfulness is amazing. To think He is perfect, He is apart from evil, and He brings people into His world in heaven from His son Jesus Christ is amazing. He could have not given us the chance at eternal life to live for Him and to spend with Him in heaven which we would have deserved because of our sin but He still wanted us with Him.

He is faithful to His word in letting an ultimate “lamb of God” come to earth one without blemish to die for our sin which we could have died and been a part of God’s wrath. He then put that wrath on His Son, His only Son, to die and go in our place!

I can’t fathom what God the Father would dwell on when He looked at His son and saw the world’s sin and turned away. He was seen as sin to God because every sin was laid on Him.

He bled and then died taking our punishment and rose again, bodily and is one day coming again!

To think He has done so much in people’s lives in the bible and in our lives as well, how great is God’s faithfulness!

I keep falling short of Him. I must realize though also because I keep depending on my strength that even if I am faithful it is God’s glory I should depend on because I still can’t make things “right” with Him. I still have sin no matter what I do but I can sin less because there are things I can avoid as I know what is right and wrong.

I must remember what He has taught me up to this point in my life and to resist the devil’s plans which is to avoid living for God.

But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. II Thessalonians 3:3

I should use my body as a living sacrifice to God.

To have my body to be to serve Him totally and fully. And treat it like it is an instrument of “righteousness” to God like when Paul encouraged the people He wrote to which we find in Romans 6:13.

I miss the intimacy that I used to have with relationship to God and I want to return to that because it is what He desires of all of us, to be close to Him.

God may we all see how awesome it is to live for You. Thank You Lord for Your faithfulness and may we be established in Your will and keep guard so You can keep us from the evil one Satan. Amen.

Strength in the Lord- 7/31/21

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To “seek His face always” is good advice. I must do that!

Where does strength greater than us come from? Isn’t it too easy to only seek the Lord after certain things?

I know that I have done that time and time again. Too often I don’t think of talking to Him at nearly all times, it seems only after I fail do I seek Him in many cases.

It is good to look to Him afterwards but shouldn’t we seek Him always with all our hearts?

After all He has done so much for us and impacted our lives in amazing ways we should have a commune with Him and talk to Him in prayer and listen to what He wants for us by reading His word.

He wants us to draw strength from Him so that He can impact our lives.

He wants us to look to Him so that He is glorified should we need to stand up for Him or share the gospel so that more come to be family in Christ. But we mustn’t forget that to live for Him is no once a week thing, we must be like Christ 24/7, always and in Him at all times. Like I’ve said before that doesn’t mean we should give up every day hobbies like drawing or writing (just examples) but we must be tapped in to His glory to reflect the servant of Jesus.

We must remember what the Lord is for us and also to know who He is.

The LORD is my strength and my shield: my heart trusts in him and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. Psalm 28:7

What praiseworthy statements! To be defended by Him to trust Him and be helped by Him. May we remember the joy He gives and praise Him.

The Lord Jesus is worthy to be praised always, no matter how the circumstances turn out in life.

I had something disappointing happen in my life recently but I pray that I not walk away from Him concerning it or be tempted to fall back on things.

Sometimes we think we are sure of a “future.” And then those things don’t seem to pan out.

But I trust in Jesus to guide me in the way of everlasting though things seem unsure or like I don’t know what could happen either way.

I remember the things I used to do about this kind of thing. I’d feel lost and then fall into depression.

Yet I don’t see to do that now. I can only pray for the person and not do things that are immature and seek Him more instead. I don’t know what that is right now in a way but I will look to His will.

But I must seek His face, how often?:

Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always. 1 Chronicles 16:11

We should seek His face always! “Always?”

You mean we shouldn’t look to Jesus only after we sin?

We must do our most for God with what time we have left because He is worth it.

Not because He gives us strength but because He is Lord of Lords. Ones we should worship and live for because we are meant to do so.

Strength is nothing when it is not dependent on God. Let’s live our lives in the only way God wants so that we can be blessed and see our lives the way He really sees us. Amen.

Note: I re-edited this to keep from being too personal in a certain way to avoid being unfair talking about another person who might not be able to defend themselves. I write this in love and hoping no one could feel hurt by this.

Devotions Trust in God- 7/29/21

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I actually got sleep! Wow, who’d have thought it was possible?

Why is it so hard to fully trust God? Just a few months ago I got to experience a lot of amazing stuff that God had done for my life. And yet during times around then I would be filled with a lot of fear kind of like Peter taking his eyes off of Jesus while crossing the ocean.

We might go through a lot in our lives but one thing we must not forget is that there is no reason to not trust in God. He is good and is not out to harm you (“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’” declares the LORD, “’plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11).

My strength is so weak I need God and to be more like Christ every day. And to also trust Him to guide me and forget what is in my life currently is not what I should only “see” or expect.

Sigh, there seems to be so much chaos in my life. The one things driving me forward is that He knows my heart so I shouldn’t fear often as so much is Satan dividing and turning things (or trying to) his way. But the prince of lies is not the victor here. The one who conquers hearts and lifts ones up in help and saving is Jesus. He will be the victory!

Psalms 118 is such a wonderful chapter. It praises God constantly and speaks of how eternal His love is. It also is kind of what I just spoke about. Read below:

The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? Psalms 118:6

Man can only take me out. God is there to deliver me. I should only trust in God who will help me through whatever craziness in is my life right now that the evil one is shaking up.

Maybe you are going through a lot right now. Did you know God can help you right where you are and change you? He is the one who guides my life and has saved me through the blood of Jesus Christ.

It might seem hard to but to trust in Christ is like a huge burden is gone from your life. You no longer feel like you have the weight of life on your shoulders, it is like a light burden has taken its place. I will leave you with one more bible verse:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5

To trust in the Lord is not some mere “belief.” It is something that drives the very soul. It starts with a relationship, one where the God of love is waiting for you to accept the gift He has waiting for you.

To get that gift you need to know that we all have sin. You have sin and cannot go to heaven by your own effort.

The bible says the “Wages of sin is death” (from Romans 6:23) that means that one who lives by their own effort cannot enter heaven but to die a second death and go to hell.

But there is hope! That is that Jesus Christ died for all the sin of the world. He also took your sin and died in your place so that you might not go to hell. And He rose again giving us the hope that He is coming again one day.

All God wants is to have a relationship with you because He loves you so much. Will you learn to trust in Him?

Pray something like this:

God, I don’t know what is going on with my life right now. I don’t know what to do. I need you God. I know that I cannot have life one day with you in heaven because of my sin. But I have heard that You sent Your son Jesus to die in my place so that no person who knows You may die without You. I want that gift of eternal life and so I trust You in my life today. Thank You for hearing me. Amen.

I have one tidbit for you friend. Want to know the whole verse? While people use the first part of the verse the rest goes like this. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If you prayed that prayer leave a comment because I want to pray for you in your life with Him. May you experience first hand the “Trust” that is worth it. Amen.

Devotions Anchor- 7/21/21

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Ugh. I need extra hobbies haha…

Is it tough to stand your ground?

In a short answer yes.

It feels like we kind of compromise all the time about what to do in life, whether it be our rebelliousness to not do His Will or if someone is stubborn about their wants and will make sure you give in because they will not have things a different way.

Parents go through this. They have a tough job of not only keeping a child or more from danger but to in a lesser but important effort keep them to know what they can and can’t do.

Yet the child may not want to listen.

That is when you have to be like an anchor! Unmovable on your stance on the matter.

If you give in they will see your weakness. They might even try and try again to get you to that stage because they know what to do now to push your buttons.

But to be standing our ground is also on the world as well.

Every day we stray further from truth in God and also in our lives if we don’t stay anchored to His word.

Matthew 7: 24-25 talks about having a “house” built on a rock, a firm foundation compared to say sandy hills or a place where storms come and and it will not stay up.

After horrid storms came other types of houses would fall from this yet with this one “it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock” (last part of 25).

Also we must think just what keeps us strong. Is it self-confidence? No.

We have great strength that doesn’t come from us or this world:

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil. Hebrews 6:19

I was a little unsure about the many aspects of this verse though to be honest.

I started breaking it down by looking up the word steadfast.

“Steadfast” means: firmly fixed in place : immovable. also : not subject to change the steadfast doctrine of original sin (Source: merriam-webster.com)

To be immovable. That sounds like the “anchor” mentioned above. It is the hope that is not from us that makes us firmly fixed in place.

Also I have some commentary on the other apsects.

Interestingly there was some info on anchors from a bible standpoint in this source too:

It is about having a sense of confidence in Christ. “the inner place behind the curtain” represents the way in which Christ precedes us

Put together these images create a powerful message of reassurance. Christ has “anchored” our hope of “refuge” in the very presence of God: the “inner place.”

The anchor was usually not in the exact place as the ship itself (was usually carried far away from the ship) our hope is not in this world. (www.bibleref.com, paraphrased)

So in all we must remember the confidence we have in Christ. Also we need to not be moved about aspects of the Christian life. Our life is built on hope and true strength. If it was built on our strength it would not last a single “storm.”

It is all through the love of God by sending His son Jesus to die for us and we in turn are revived and must reflect the living for God that He showed.

Devotions Strength- 7/19/21

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Thank You Lord for Your mercies every day

To have strength, what could that mean when it comes to the bible?

Does it mean “we’ve got this” in every situation?

Or does it mean we have to draw strength and show that He is in control of our lives?

It is unreal how prideful we can be. To boast about self or to treat living for God including “I” in the statement like Moses thinking that he and God were equal is a dangerous attitude to have in life!

We are weak without and with God. To credit self in the equation is like giving partial credit to God’s glory but all great things that have happened in our lives is ALL God’s glory, it’s not us. As in it is not in us alone. Think of your sin, then think of God. We need God in order to be glorified. It is God changing us, we don’t factor in what makes God great!

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak Isaiah 40:29

He increases our endurance, our love when we feel like hating, our joy when things get tougher, He is what gives us the strength though we are weak!

To be weary, what does that mean though?

“Weary” means- being exhausted in strength, endurance, vigor, or freshness. Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary website (quoted online)

That is not like just working out all day and being tired. That means living out God’s will and then after a long time coming home and feeling like you can’t move anymore. Being so worn out that you feel spiritually exhausted too!

We must never give up hope. Whether we have not really lived for Christ or we feel worn out and discouraged we must not be afraid in life and live it out.

I believe God blesses so much things we do for Him. He wants us to be servants and witnesses as we have been saved, cleansed, and changed by the blood of Christ. To live after realizing Christ died for us and our old selves were on that cross, we must know how He then sees us.

We must be strong in Him. And be strong in Him and by nothing else and not to claim we were strong in our own strength by us.

God is the strength of my heart Psalms 73:26

In Him there is glory. We have nothing without Him. Thank You Lord for Your strength, Amen.

Devotion 1 John 7/16/21

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The angel has as of this moment shown up at least six times now. Time to write that group of blog notes soon. Was so encouraging, thank you Lord!

Anyone else getting sick of their sin? (Raises hand) Hello!

It is not just a humbling thing, it makes me think of what Paul has said about it too.

Romans 7:19 sums up well just how frustrating and seemingly hopeless sin feels. It says: For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.

It paints a picture of things we might do and over time we will hate it and avoid it though we seem to lose the battle to sins.

I already shared my own sin problem in an earlier month. I had shared about it being one of my biggest regrets in life.

But believe it or not, this is something that can be overcome with the help of the Lord!

We need to realize just what our hearts if we focus on things we shouldn’t are seen to God.

He doesn’t like it. It offends Him! Maybe that will help us to feel convicted about things that we do that we are better off without.

But have hope that Jesus paid for that sin already, long ago. Isn’t that also a great reason to walk away?

We must come to the “cross” in prayer, confess what we did and also ask God to revive our life to Him.

We should praise God that because of the cross and that Jesus died for our sins and rose again showing power even over death we should no longer have those sins in our lives anymore..!

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9 NKJV

To be forgiven by God through Jesus is such a wonderful relief. And to live for His sake is a reason to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit until the day Christ returns. Amen.

Devotion Hebrews-7/15/21

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Had a restful night last night. What a relief to actually get sleep! I have an off day with work today; I guess not being stressed about having to do so much the next day helps…

Why do we always desire more? We might have a place to live, a family and/or neighbors that may care about us, things that we already own. And yet it seems like it’s not enough!

When people make a lot of money it seems to be a response to the life of a sinner: they will be happy with just a little more. To “make more money” seems to be the person’s life dream!

We should be glad of what blessings God already has for us though. Believe me, I know what it is like to keep wanting extra in life. But the ones being encouraged in the book of Hebrews are reminded of what one has can be enough:

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5 NIV

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.” Those were the words of the author of the Book of Hebrews. The temptation was strong amongst the Jews that they keep their faith, that they hold on to the traditions and rituals of their fathers. .. Source: owlcation.com Quote excerpt from search engine

Mainly I learned that it wasn’t exactly they were trying to keep up with tradition, there was more to that (I kind of feel like I put up a not so reliable source above)!

The main parts of this book of the bible from the New Testament was to state the supremacy of Christ and also to persevere even in tough times (like persecution).

That again would be going on a tangent (maybe I will cover this book entirely sometime!) so I will end with these thoughts.

Living a life in general means you will have aimless goals and might even be very successful. Living a life for God might entail a lot of roads to travel and try out before knowing what really is important.

But what we must realize is to be content. Why? Because God gave us the things we have. To desire “more” as in a lot more may take our eyes off of our goals for God. We have to stay focused and keep our hearts untainted by greed to see what God truly has for us!

Quick Quip- Freedom from Love 7/11/21

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Have to do a quick one. Think of this as a part devotion, part something I wnat to explore more in the future…!

If we are free from the punishment of sin we are free to do His will and live for Him. We are also free to love each other in Christ’s love. As a church body works, we have much to do on our own but we must also love each other:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

In my version of 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 it says in the last part love “thinks no evil.”

God loves us so much we are no longer accountable to our sin, which means we won’t get what we once deserved for it (hell). But that does not mean we are free to dabble in what we once were saved from. That is a dangerous thought!

It’s treachery to the Holy Spirit and there are always consequences to sin, especially if we are doing it recklessly or without thinking it as a big deal.

That is why we must stay focused on what Jesus wants in our lives. Here’s a final verse:

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Galatians 5:13

We must serve one another not get stuck in reckless sin. We must love and not guide each other towards evil and make each other fall.

We must keep our eyes on the One to guide us. The Holy Spirit and His word will let us know what we should do! This is freedom directly from the love of Jesus. By His death we live so let’s spend time helping and showing kindness towards one another as a group of believers.

We should do what we’re made to do (or do what we should be called to do if we have become a new creation!).